Origins of wolverine in California genetically verified
A wolverine first photographed by a remote-controlled camera on the Tahoe National Forest in February 2008 is most closely related to Rocky Mountain populations, according to a team of 10 federal,...
View ArticleSierra Nevada birds move in response to warmer, wetter climate
(PhysOrg.com) -- If the climate is not quite right, birds will up and move rather than stick around and sweat it out, according to a new study led by biologists at the University of California, Berkeley.
View ArticleSearching for Alien Life, on Earth
If you spend an afternoon walking along the muddy shore of Mono Lake, with the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada mountains looming majestically in the background, you’ll no doubt discover, as others...
View ArticleFossil Leaves Depict Warm, High Sierra Nevada Mountains in Ancient Past
(PhysOrg.com) -- A team led by Yale University geologists has reconstructed the climate and elevation of California’s northern Sierra Nevada mountains using organic materials derived from ancient...
View ArticleNASA's GCPEX mission: What we don't know about snow
Predicting the future is always a tricky business -- just watch a TV weather report. Weather forecasts have come a long way, but almost every season there's a snowstorm that seems to come out of...
View ArticleCommon North American frog identified as carrier of deadly amphibian disease
Known for its distinctive "ribbit" call, the noisy Pacific chorus frog is a potent carrier of a deadly amphibian disease, according to new research published today in the journal PLoS ONE. Just how...
View ArticleNASA asks public to provide videos and photos of meteor
(Phys.org) -- NASA and the SETI Institute are asking the public for more information to help find amateur photos and video footage of the daylight meteor that illuminated the sky over the Sierra Nevada...
View ArticleWildfire and an example of its important link to the ecosystem
Traveling the western U.S. state of Nevada in the 1860s, a young American writer named Mark Twain heard a "world of talk" about the beauty of Lake Tahoe and so set out one August day to see the lake...
View ArticleDust from Africa affects snowfall in California
One of the driest spots on Earth—the Sahara desert—is increasingly responsible for snow and rain half a world away in the western U.S., a new study released Thursday found.
View ArticleBats not bothered by forest fires, study finds
A survey of bat activity in burned and unburned areas after a major wildfire in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains found no evidence of detrimental effects on bats one year after the fire. The...
View ArticleUnder California: An ancient tectonic plate
(Phys.org) —The Isabella anomaly—indications of a large mass of cool, dehydrated material about 100 kilometers beneath central California—is in fact a surviving slab of the Farallon oceanic plate. Most...
View ArticleExplosive western US wildfire 23 percent contained (Update 2)
The giant wildfire burning at the edge of Yosemite National Park is 30 percent contained, U.S. fire officials said Wednesday
View ArticleNearly 40 percent of Rim Fire land a 'moonscape'
A fire that raged in forestland in and around Yosemite National Park has left a contiguous "moonscape" in the Sierra Nevada mountains larger than any in centuries.
View ArticleStudy documents the enduring contaminant legacy of the California gold rush
An unintended legacy of California's gold rush, which began in 1848, endures today in the form of mercury-laden sediment. New research by Michael Singer, associate researcher at UC Santa Barbara's...
View ArticleDistant dust and atmospheric rivers increase flooding in California
Overseas dust increases the Sierra Nevada Mountains snowpack and atmospheric rivers cause it to rapidly melt, according to scientists at DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and their...
View ArticleFracture-controlled erodibility, great rock climbing
Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park is an iconic American landscape: It is a sub-alpine meadow surrounded by glacially sculpted granitic outcrops in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Because of its...
View ArticleMountains and winds confound particle distribution
Untangling complex relationships requires understanding and facts. Applying both, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory led research finding the true culprits instigating layers of tiny atmospheric...
View ArticleSatellite shows return of the Pineapple Express
The ''Pineapple Express'' happens when warm air and lots of moisture are transported from the Central Pacific, near Hawaii, to the Eastern Pacific Ocean. An animation of satellite imagery from NOAA's...
View ArticleCalifornia takes sweeping steps to conserve water in drought
Gary Whitlock watched water run to a sidewalk as gardeners hosed down a bed of marigolds outside an Orange County office building and questioned whether California's latest attempt to curb water use...
View ArticleImage: Central California and the San Andreas Fault
This image captured by Sentinel-1A's radar on 1 April 2015 shows a central region of California in the US.
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